It cannot be denied that Angkor is heaven on earth. It is the earthly representation of Mt Meru, the Mt Olympus of the Hindu faith and the abode of ancient gods. Angkor is the wonderful fusion of creative ambition and spiritual devotion. The Cambodian ‘god-kings’ of old each strove to better their ancestors in size, […] Read More
Vietnam Travel guide
Sa Dec
It trumpets a small claim to fame as the setting for The Lover, a semi-autobiographical novel by Marguerite Duras, made into a film by Jean-Jacques Annaud.Landscape Huynh Thuy Le Old House HISTORICAL BUILDING(Nha Co Huynh Thuy Le; 0939 533 523; 225A Ð Nguyen Hue; admission 10,000d) This beautifully impressive 1895 house on the riverfront was once the residence of Huynh Thuy Le, […] Read More
Around Angkor thom (Part II)
Banteay Srei HINDU TEMPLEDeemed by many to be the jewel in the crown of Angkorian art, Banteay Srei – a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva – is cut from stone of a pinkish hue and contains many of the finest stone carving anywhere in the world . Begun in AD 967, it is one of the […] Read More
Around Angkor thom (Part I)
Sights Ta Prohm BUDDHIST TEMPLEThe eventual Indiana Jones fantasy, Ta Prohm is cloaked in dappled gloominess, its decomposing towers and walls locked in the unhurried, well-built embrace of enormous main systems. If Angkor Wat, the Bayon and other temples are proof to the genius of the ancient Khmers, Ta Prohm reminds us equally of the very good prolificacy and […] Read More
Angkor Thom
Every gate (North, South, East, West and Victory) towers above the visitor, the magnanimous faces of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara staring out over the kingdom. Imagine that you were a peasant in the 13th century approaching the forbidding capital for the first time? It would have been a formidable but unsettling experience to enter such a gateway and come directly with […] Read More